William Gallas has mixed feelings about William Saliba and thinks Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate is ahead in France’s pecking order as the Arsenal defender can ‘sometimes be a disaster’.
Saliba joined Arsenal from Saint-Etienne back in 2019 and was sent on three separate loan spells before establishing himself as a mainstay at the heart of Mikel Arteta’s defence.
This season, the 23-year-old’s partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes has received near universal praise, with the Gunners boasting the best defensive record in the Premier League after shipping just 26 goals across the campaign.
However, Saliba is yet to nail down a starting berth at international level and France head coach Didier Deschamps has been outspoken with his reservations over the young centre-back ahead of Euro 2024, admitting there are parts of his game he ‘does not like’.
‘He is having a good season, but he also does things that I don’t like so much,’ Deschamps told reporters at a press conference last month.
‘For France, he has limited game time, but when he plays, that hasn’t necessarily gone well.
‘The hierarchy doesn’t favour him at the moment, but he is here. Dayot Upamecano has had game time and perhaps William has had less.’
Deschamps added: ‘With certain players, I make sure to persevere, because it can be confidence or little blockages that can shift.
‘Some don’t have any concerns, some need game time.
‘William has had less game time, so that doesn’t allow him to be very calm.’
Gallas and Deschamps seem to have similar feelings towards Saliba, with the former Arsenal and Chelsea defender accusing his fellow countryman of lacking ‘consistency’.
When asked which of France’s young central defenders he rates the highest, Gallas told Get French Football News: ‘France have so many talented young centre-backs.
‘It’s always the same question, though, and that is which one is going to be consistent? Which ones are going to be the starters?
‘Unfortunately, it’s difficult for William Saliba to be in the starting XI because you have Ibrahima Konate from Liverpool and Dayot Upamecano from Bayern, and sometimes Saliba can be magnificent, but sometimes he can be a disaster as he’s not consistent.
‘That’s why it’s a big problem for Didier Deschamps to know exactly who is going to be the number one, or the partnership at centre-back!’
Gallas is confident the Arsenal man would ‘walk into’ the starting XI of ‘every other country’ on the planet.
‘For every other country, Saliba would probably walk into the XI with ease, but with France, it’s different and that is very tough for him – especially as they have been so successful in recent years,’ the ex-Arsenal captain added.
‘We have some great young centre-backs in the French team, that’s for sure.’
